Commercial diving operations. If you have salvage photos and information to share contact me at johnharris@sea-corps.com
This page features:
Heavy Helmet Diving
Commercial Diving
Navy Divers
Superlites
Great Lakes
Off-Shore
in-land
Oil-rig
LawrenceCliff Hall: Built in 1965 as a 730 foot bulk carrier. Seven months after her launching she collided with the British cargo carrier SUNEK, on November 16th 1965. While attempting to beach the vessel it rolled over in the St. Lawrence River and sank in 35 feet of water. Salvage crews from Marine Industries compressed air into the holds to displace the water. 13 cables were attached to the vessel and were pulled by 13 bulldozers on shore to pull her upright. The LAWRENCECLIFFE HALL was refloated on March 16, 1966. She was towed to Davie Shipyard in Lauzon Quebec and refit. She returned to service on August 1 1966.Years after her salvaging she became the Canadian Venture.
Bonanka: Aka: MARY ALICE B. was a 65 ft. tug built in Duluth MN in 1931. Over her career she sailed under the names QUINTUS (1931), BONANKA (1962), LOMAX (1972), then finally in 1975 was sold and renamed MARY ALICE B. Her final job was the salvage of the saltwater vessel MONROVIA, which sank near Alpena in Lake Huron. At the end of the season the MARY ALICE B. was to be towed back to Detroit by the tug DOLPHIN 1. On September 5th 1975 the MARY ALICE began taking on water during the middle of the night. All efforts by the crew of the DOLPHIN 1 to save the tug were in vain as the MARY ALICE B slid stern first to the bottom of Lake Huron. I dove this wreck in 2003 and is an outstanding dive. She lies upright in approx. 90 feet of water. Click here for some underwater shots. MARY ALICE B dive.
Photos below by Bill Hoey
BONANKA during salvage operations.
Diver Ray Moore enters water.
US Navy salvage divers using MK
21's work on the
sunken Japanese education fishing vessel UWA JIMA. The vessel was in a
collision with a US submarine in Hawaii and sank with loss of life. Photos by
US Navy
